This painting in particular was heavily influenced by adventure genre paintings, specially from the early 20s magazines and 30s. I also wanted to play a bit with a horror concept, a bit inspired by the great Lovecraft, and the mystery and awe of old time expeditions and the unknown, discovering lost civilizations or other potentially (sometimes terrifying) findings.

First I work out small thumbnails sketches, like I normally do. An initial materialization of ideas.Then, I proceed on research image references for the clothes and style of 20s expedition elements.

Color and rough digital sketch.

After references and other elements were clear, the composition starts to get into form through a rough and quick digital sketch, which allows me to locate and move around the elements until the best rendition is found. The next step and final through digital process is the color tone. An approximation of it will later on help me for the final oils colors.

Once I jump into the canvas, I start locating the elements using an oil-based pencil for a clear registry of the composition and its correct proportions. Later on, the first "dead layer" (base color) will be applied:

The finished piece. All the colors and the right mood is set. For this painting I worked closely with the help of a model, for light effects and right face expressions.